Biden administration considered expelling Alex Ovechkin and all Russian NHL players from the country to pressure Vladimir Putin in prisoner swap

In the months leading up to a prisoner exchange for American journalist Evan Gershkovich and former marine Paul Whelan in August 2024, the Biden administration reportedly considered expelling all Russian hockey players from the US to pressure Russia for their release.

An exposé published by the Wall Street Journal on Thursday revealed White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan weighed the option of leaning on Russian president Vladimir Putin, a noted hockey fan, by removing some of the NHL’s biggest stars, rather than ask US ally Germany to release a Russian hitman serving life in prison.

“The administration needed to explore alternative trades that wouldn’t include the murderer or other ways to pressure the Kremlin,” the reporting reads. “Sullivan had considered punishing Putin by expelling Russian hockey players in America, including Alexander Ovechkin, the NHL star chasing Wayne Gretzky’s all-time scoring record. He decided against it.”

Instead, Sullivan and the administration went forward with a 24-man prisoner exchange that included the hitman. Per the BBC, the exchange was the largest such swap since the Cold War.

The potential ban on Russian players would’ve seen Ovechkin forced to leave the country ahead of the 2024-25 season, indefinitely halting his chase for Gretzky with his career total at 853 goals.

Ovechkin’s longstanding acquaintance with Putin has garnered plenty of controversy, especially since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. He spoke on the conflict that same year, calling for peace without condemning Putin’s actions.

“I’m Russian, right? Sometimes something I can’t control. It’s not in my hands. I hope it’s going to end soon and it’s going to be peace in both countries. I don’t control this one,” he said then. “He’s my president. But I’m not in politics, I’m an athlete. I hope everything is gonna be done soon. It’s [a] sad situation right now for both sides.”

There were 65 Russian-born players on NHL teams last season, according to QuantHockey, and many more participating at the minor league level too. If the White House had gone through with that plan, other stars like the Tampa Bay Lightning’s Nikita Kucherov, the Florida Panthers’ Sergei Bobrovsky and the New York Rangers’ Artemi Panarin would’ve been barred from playing. It’s unclear how Russian NHLers on Canadian teams would’ve been affected.